Chicken Shack are a British blues band,
founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Silvester (bass
guitar), and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect
(McVie) (vocals and keyboards) in 1968. After Christine departed in 1969, Paul
Raymond played keyboards.
Chicken Shack was formed as a trio in 1965,
naming themselves after Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack album. 'Chicken
shacks' (open-air roadside chicken stands) had also been frequently mentioned
in blues and R&B songs.
They made their first UK appearance at the
1967 National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor and signed to Mike Vernon's Blue
Horizon record label in the same year; releasing Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly
Packed and Ready to Serve in early 1968. A mainstay of the British blues boom,
and a regular at UK festivals (Stan Webb's wandering through the crowd with a
200ft extension to his guitar lead during the band's set was a regular
occurrence), Chicken Shack enjoyed some commercial success, with Christine
Perfect voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls two years running.
They had two minor hits with "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "Tears In
The Wind", after which Perfect left the band in 1969 when she married John
McVie of Fleetwood Mac. She was replaced by Paul Raymond from Plastic Penny.
After being dropped by Blue Horizon,
pianist Paul Raymond, bassist Andy Silvester, and drummer Dave Bidwell all left
in 1971 to join Savoy Brown. At this point Webb reformed the band as a trio
with John Glascock on bass and Paul Hancox on drums, and they recorded
Imagination Lady. The line-up didn't last; Glascock left to join Jethro Tull,
while Webb was recruited for Savoy Brown in 1974 and recorded the album Boogie
Brothers with them.
From 1977 until the present Webb has
revived the Chicken Shack name on a number of occasions, with a rotating
membership over the next 30 years of British blues musicians including, at
various times, Paul Butler (ex-Jellybread, Keef Hartley Band)(guitar), Keef
Hartley, ex-Ten Years After drummer Ric Lee and Miller Anderson, some of whom
came and went several times. The band has remained popular as a live attraction
in Europe throughout.
Webb remains as their only constant band
member.
Monday Morning Blues 14/04/14 (1st hour) by Kev "Legs" on Mixcloud
Monday Morning Blues 14/04/14 (2nd hour) by Kev "Legs" on Mixcloud
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